Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Galliambic

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Galliambic metre is constructed as shown below:

˘ ˘ – ˘ – ˘ – –// ˘ ˘ – ˘ ˘ ˘ ˘ ×

This metre, meant for the frenzied cult of the eastern goddess Cybele, is best known from its use in Catullus 63. The meter admits of many substitutions of two short syllables for a long, as in line 63, the longest line in the poem:

Ěgǒ mǔlǐěr, ěgo adǒlēscēns, ěgo ěphēbǔs, ěgǒ pǔêr - Catullus 63 Line 63

  • The syllaba anceps has been shown with a circumflex (â).
  • Modern use

    Alfred, Lord Tennyson used the Galliambic metre for his poem, Boadicea.

    Although Catullus 63 is not typically translated directly into Galliambics, as they present more of a challenge in English, Peter Green did so for his 2005 edition of the complete poems of Catullus.

    References

    Galliambic Wikipedia